Author Topic: 4 Player Pedestal Project Proceeding (Read 12392 times)

Milky · « **on:** January 08, 2016, 10:51:15 am »

It's me again from my introduction thread in the main forum: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,148132.0.html

Well, the wife and I finally have time to get started on our 4 player pedestal that I initially asked about over in the other thread. Luckily I have managed to get Hyperspin and various software up and running over December and now that the holiday madness is over we can actually get started on the build process. I'm not entirely sure of the timeline to completion on this sucker (it is our first one after all!), but we are hoping to get it up and running by early February at the latest. After we get there we will get some custom vinyl artwork to pretty it up as soon as we can!

Attached are a few pics to hopefully generate a little excitement. The original thread has some of the small and large scale mock-ups if anyone is interested in seeing those as well. Thoughts/opinions/advice are all welcome!

On a side note, probably a weird place to ask, but I've been having an issue with Golden Tee Fore complete showing up in Hyperspin. It loads and runs directly through Mame, but for some reason I can't get it to show on the Hyperspin wheel. I tried using Romlister to generate a database entry, but that still didn't seem to alleviate the issue. If anyone has any ideas it would be appreciated!

Milky · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2016, 10:51:46 am »

More pics.

Milky · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2016, 10:52:09 am »

Last one.

severdhed · « **Reply #3 on:** January 11, 2016, 10:25:52 pm »

looking forward to this, i love a good 4 player pedestal build

DesertBlade · « **Reply #4 on:** January 31, 2016, 05:36:40 pm »

Planning on doing a 4-person build this summer. Do you have mock ups what you plan for it to look like?

Milky · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2016, 06:34:18 pm »

Oddly enough we just did step one today. There have been some delays due to weather and school, but we finally managed to get some first cuts going. That should also allow us to hopefully speed up a touch. We did hit one snag in that we really need to figure out the control panel artwork so we can get it made, delivered, and applied before I start messing around with the wiring of all the controls. Other than that, here are a few pictures to look at.

Milky · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2016, 06:35:55 pm »

Another picture.

Milky · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2016, 06:46:01 pm »

Here is a possible control panel and marquee setup that we are considering. They're both still a rough build, but they get the basic idea across. For the control panel we are looking to outline the player buttons with various themed outlines such as mario pipes, donkey kong girders, pacman walls/dots, and something else. The player start and coin buttons would also be outlined with a similar theme for each player. Haven't thought about what to outline the 2 admin buttons with just yet. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

I will say I have personally entertained the idea of the triforce around the admin buttons with the master sword "stuck" into the trackball, but I haven't put a ton of thought into it.

DesertBlade · « **Reply #8 on:** February 02, 2016, 11:43:06 pm »

Looks like a solid plan. Will be following this.......

Milky · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2016, 07:22:42 am »

We got the CP drilled out the other day and I figured I'd post a pic. Hopefully get a little more work done today.

This is an underside shot btw.

Milky · « **Reply #10 on:** February 07, 2016, 01:35:32 pm »

Some more work today. Got the rounded front portion cut out as well as the rest of the CP box. Currently gluing the rounded strips together so that we can sand them later and attach them as one piece.

Milky · « **Reply #11 on:** February 07, 2016, 01:36:20 pm »

More.

Milky · « **Reply #12 on:** February 24, 2016, 09:12:11 pm »

Ok, have an update. Not sure if anyone is even still interested in this project, but I'll throw this up just in case. The wife has been working on the CP artwork as we really need it done and applied before I'll be able to do any of the control wiring. She finally has it to a presentable point and we figured we'd throw it up here for opinions/suggestions. I will say that we both really like the look of the thing, even though it's a a touch on the busy side. The main thing we're looking for are suggestions on things that could be added/removed or even just tweaked to add an extra wow factor. There are a few things to note about this picture:

1) It's a very scaled down file so that I could get it posted on here, so some of the art will look wonky b/c of the scaling, but in the original photoshop it is crystal clear.
2) There are some things that still need doing like touching up the master sword and some placement of items.
3) There may be a couple of things that need adding to fill some of the dead space.
4) The white edge and circles won't be in the print version, the edge is built in for bleed and the circles won't be necessary as the CP has already been cut.
5) The main theme of the artwork is that it only contains "terrain" elements from the 4 games, we don't have any intention of adding characters onto this (and yes we're still debating about the ghost eyes for that reason).

Other than that, as I've said on numerous occasions we are not purists. If you happen to be a purist I am now giving you a trigger warning as you do not want to scroll down and look at this picture. Doing so may cause the following symptoms: Eyes rolling into the back of your head, fits of rage, homicidal tendencies, depression, and explosive diarrhea. You have been warned.

Seriously, last chance...

Manorite · « **Reply #13 on:** February 24, 2016, 10:42:11 pm »

I love the artwork, it looks great! Good work.

leapinlew · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2016, 12:02:57 am »

Check the placement of your P1 and P2 joysticks. One of them is too high or too low.

Other than that -looks good

Milky · « **Reply #15 on:** February 25, 2016, 05:50:36 am »

Quote from: leapinlew on February 25, 2016, 12:02:57 am

Check the placement of your P1 and P2 joysticks. One of them is too high or too low.

Other than that -looks good

Believe it or not those are placed there after having built a full-sized analog out of cardboard and mounting sticks and buttons in various configurations for all players. Due to the curve and placement of everyone those locations felt the most comfortable and minimized encroachment into other the other player's spaces.

Milky · « **Reply #16 on:** March 10, 2016, 11:59:44 am »

Wife and I got some more woodwork done and figured I'd post it. It was our first time using a router and Kreg jig.

Milky · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2016, 12:00:08 pm »

One more.

yotsuya · « **Reply #18 on:** March 10, 2016, 12:08:35 pm »

Nice job on the curve. I love my Kreg jig as well. I used mine yesterday to build a deck box for my pool area.

Milky · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2016, 08:19:57 am »

For what it's worth, here is the final CPO file we sent off to Game On Grafix, should be here in a couple of days!

Milky · « **Reply #20 on:** March 12, 2016, 10:44:18 pm »

Lighting is bad, but here is the overlay. Surprised by how fast they got it to us. Hopefully tomorrow we can get the thing on the CP and possibly start the wiring process this week!

Milky · « **Reply #21 on:** March 13, 2016, 06:56:26 pm »

A few more pics here. Got the control box basically ready. We added the hinges and and primed the exterior. Once we get the slot cutting bit Tuesday we'll get that done and then the CPO and joystick/trackball installation.

Milky · « **Reply #22 on:** March 15, 2016, 07:13:32 pm »

Got the slot cutter today and got that taken care of. Figured I'd post a few more pictures as a result.

Here is the slot cut. We discovered that we hadn't taken the screws along the bottom into account so we had to go around them. We'll have to make the T-molding fit as well, but shouldn't be too big of a deal.

Here is the CPO applied to the top of the box. I was a nervous wreck as I can't even put a sticker on a piece of paper without screwing it up. Luckily my wife is really good at this sort of thing.

Here are some shots of the CPO with the holes cut out. It came out perfect!

The only immediate thing left to do is get the buttons, joysticks, and trackball mounted so the wiring can commence. We have a goal of next Friday for all of that so that it will hopefully be in a playable state for when my cousin comes into town.

wemr97dl · « **Reply #23 on:** March 15, 2016, 11:27:13 pm »

I think the artwork looks good, the 4 player panel is a must for parties, every time my sons buddies show up they end up playing my machine and the xbox one just sits, I went with 6 buttons for each player for game system games, sega , nintendo, etc

Milky · « **Reply #24 on:** March 16, 2016, 05:09:47 am »

Yeah, we regularly have up to 8 people come over on most Friday nights, so I know this thing will see some use. We are getting very excited at this point!

Milky · « **Reply #25 on:** March 16, 2016, 05:17:54 pm »

Small update, got the 4 joysticks installed.

They are completely undermounted with no screw breaching through the top of the CP. That being the case we have them held fast on the underside with 4 small screws in each to help hold them in place. There ain't no kill like overkill though.

vwalbridge · « **Reply #26 on:** March 16, 2016, 05:20:52 pm »

I've never seen joysticks mounted like that.

Milky · « **Reply #27 on:** March 16, 2016, 05:42:29 pm »

We're hoping it'll work. We wanted to mount them this way so that in case one breaks we don't have to damage/remove the CPO just to replace a joystick. Yes we could have drilled them in from the top for the same effect, but the wife was adamantly against having screws visible on top. Like say, there are small screws actually attaching them to the top of the CP and then popsicle sticks wedged into the crevices to guarantee that no shifting occurs. Follow that up with the metal hang tape and they should hopefully protect against a small nuke.

PL1 · « **Reply #28 on:** March 16, 2016, 05:53:08 pm »

Quote from: vwalbridge on March 16, 2016, 05:20:52 pm

I've never seen joysticks mounted like that.

Looks like a variation on "Under mount (support blocks)" shown here in the wiki.

Scott

Milky · « **Reply #29 on:** March 16, 2016, 06:07:21 pm »

That style was the goal. We think this will achieve the same result.

Milky · « **Reply #30 on:** March 17, 2016, 06:59:05 pm »

Small update. All of the buttons are installed, now it's simply onto the wiring. Hoping I don't screw that part up, but it doesn't look terrible. The LED's have me a touch on the concerned side though. As a side note for anyone thinking of getting the Ultimarc RBG LED buttons. We had to grind down part of the button to get the wires in correctly with no worries of them getting crimped, a bit of a pain, but doable.

Also, we discovered that there was a mistake made with our artwork. It's not terribly noticeable, but it is there, our Persian flaw if you will. It's kind of a Where's Waldo search. See if you can spot it, it's visible in this picture, though scrolling up and looking at the actual art file will make it easier to find.

smass · « **Reply #31 on:** March 17, 2016, 10:16:44 pm »

I didn't find the flaw, but just wanted to say your CP looks killer. I really like it in a "never seen that before" good kind of way

dmckean · « **Reply #32 on:** March 18, 2016, 01:28:54 am »

I can't spot the flaw either.

Milky · « **Reply #33 on:** March 18, 2016, 04:58:09 am »

I'll give a further clue, the flaw is on the Pac-man portion. It's a flaw in the actual artwork. And thanks for all the comments so far, I forgot to mention that up to this point!

thomas_surles · « **Reply #34 on:** March 18, 2016, 08:54:33 am »

the ghost eyes are gone?

Milky · « **Reply #35 on:** March 19, 2016, 03:09:19 pm »

Another update. Wiring for the controls is done excluding the trackball. Still have yet to actually get the LED's working though that's on the back burner for the moment. I do have a question for the pros out there. I have 2 U360's installed and apparently I must have messed something up. Apparently windows and Hyperspin recognize the player 2 U360 as the main input device. This means that I can only change games with the second player joystick. Furthermore Mame recognizes 1st player as using the second joystick. Is there a way to get windows to re-recognize the first joystick as the main joystick? I have tried Umap as well as JoyToKey and also tried setting Player 1 stick as the preferred device to no avail. I'm worried we'll have to swap each stick out in order to get it to work, but I was hoping there would be a way in windows to fix it if anyone knows. Thanks in advance.

Other than that we were able to play TMNT using players 3 and 4!!!

Scotty_C · « **Reply #36 on:** March 19, 2016, 10:24:40 pm »

Should have put that dot in the background of the strawberry

Hmm...what happens when you just have P1 U360 hooked up and then hooking up P2 later? (Oh and I'm assuming you already changed the IDs on one of the joysticks)

Milky · « **Reply #37 on:** March 19, 2016, 11:09:38 pm »

Quote from: Scotty_C on March 19, 2016, 10:24:40 pm

Should have put that dot in the background of the strawberry

Hmm...what happens when you just have P1 U360 hooked up and then hooking up P2 later? (Oh and I'm assuming you already changed the IDs on one of the joysticks)

Ding ding ding, yeah, that was the art issue. However, on the Joystick, even only having the first player stick hooked up I still can't get it the computer to recognize it as first. It really doesn't make sense to me. I've done the ID changing that I think works from what I've searched, but if you have a recommendation I'd be glad to hear it. It really feels like I'm gonna have to swap the joysticks out which is not really what we'd like to do.

Milky · « **Reply #38 on:** October 30, 2016, 10:41:58 am »

Massive picture influx ahead! I haven't posted in a long time, but we have done a lot of work on the arcade in the downtime. I figured I'd post some pics on here just in case anyone was still interested. For those interested the color is snes controller gray. We actually took a controller in to Lowe's to get it color matched (it's what the wife wanted). The big thing we're working on now is the artwork for the front curve and the marquee.

menace · « **Reply #39 on:** October 30, 2016, 05:34:32 pm »

Looks good so far and I think its awesome that you guys are working on that as a couple! My wife is tolerant and that's good enough for me

One note on the joystick mounting--I retrofitted a panel once and this was the only way I could mount them--it didn't last. The joysticks torqued after some aggressive play, the metal tabs bent , causing more room for movement and finally the screws tore out. I eventually sacrificed the panel top and bolted them through.

Its a shame the panel top is done--I countersink the bolts now and use plain old drywall compound to smooth it out.

Milky · « **Reply #40 on:** October 30, 2016, 05:43:20 pm »

Hopefully they'll last a while even with rougher play. The screws are more of a formality in the setup anyway as most of the work is done by the shim work. We'll see though.


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